


Good Morning Motown

by suicidejane



Series: Motown One Shots [1]
Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bucky Barnes Is a Good Bro, Bucky Barnes is a little shit, Fluff and Humor, Love Through Wall Plaster, M/M, Natasha Is a Good Bro, Pettiness, Showers, They Could Have Just Knocked on Each Other’s Doors, Unreliable Narrator
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-21
Updated: 2017-11-21
Packaged: 2019-02-04 23:24:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12781905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suicidejane/pseuds/suicidejane
Summary: Steve likes singing Motown in the shower... and so does his next door neighbor.OR Motown classics turn Sam and Steve's building against them.





	Good Morning Motown

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: “So we’ve never met but our showers are on opposite sides of the same apartment wall so sometimes we’re showering at the same time and we sing duets.” AU

Steve heard it through the paper thin walls. They had been at it for almost a month, every day at 4 in the morning, in the shower. A smile crept on his face.

 

“If you need me call me no matter where you are, no matter how far... don’t worry baby!” Steve grinned at the choice. The tunes were almost always a Motown classic and the singer had no sense of tone or pitch. This was one of his favorites.

 

He started the water and steam quickly filled the room. He stepped into the spray, his muscles relaxed under the assault. He leaned against the wall, closer to the voice on the other side. Steve closed his eyes and listened.

 

“Just call my name I’ll be there in a hurry don’t you worry baby— I hear you man, get ready!” Steve laughed, the soloist warned of the impending duet.

 

“Cause baby there ain’t no mountain high enough! Ain’t no valley low enough! Ain’t no river wide enough, to keep from getting to you baby!” The two men belted as loud as they could. Of course, their voices carried throughout the complex signaling banging noises from the other tenants.

 

Yet, they kept singing. Soap suds and hot water accompanied Steve. Maybe there was dancing but Steve was alone in his respective shower so it was okay.

 

 **Mystery Man:** Winter’s cold can’t stop me baby!

 

 **Steve:** If you’re ever in trouble I’ll be there on the double just send for me all baby!

 

 **Mystery Man:** My love is alive deep down in my heart, although we are miles apart!

 

 **Steve:** If you ever need a helping hand, I’ll be there on the double just as fast as I—

 

BAM! BAM! BAM!

 

The hard knocks came in threes. Steve jumped at the interruption and rolled his eyes shortly after.

 

“What!”

 

“Some people still sleep at this hour asshole! And tell your little buddy I’m talking to him too!” His roommate screamed through the bathroom door.

 

“Early bird catches the worm, Barnes!”

 

“It can catch these size twelves too! Keep it down.” Heavy footsteps padded away from the door. Steve didn’t waste another moment on Bucky Barnes and focused back on his singing partner. Maybe he picked another song.

 

Steve listened....

 

And listened... but all he heard was the water from his own shower head. Mystery Man was gone. Steve sighed sadly but finished none the less.

 

Out and wrapped in a towel he moved through their small two bedroom apartment. Bucky’s open door was still dark on the inside but Steve knew his friend to be a light sleeper. So, he felt bad about waking him up again... but only just a little.

 

He leaned against the opening and smiled. A voice called out to him. “Cheeky bastard, you know people are trying to sleep.”

 

“I’m helping you, what’s five minutes,” Steve said just as Bucky’s alarm clock sounded. Bucky groaned and smacked it into submission.

 

“Everything, five minutes are everything.” Bucky wasn’t a morning person.

 

“Rise and shine!” Steve called out as he trotted into his own room.

* * *

 

Steve had been humming this tune before bed and he was sure as shit glad that it followed him into the next day. The silence was almost unbearable when he entered his bathroom. He let the shower set the mood. Once inside he hummed the pleasant melody, the words fell from his lips effortlessly.

 

“Oh yeah baby, like a fool I went and stayed too long. Now I'm wondering if your love's still strong!” He belted out the words but nothing followed. He kept on with the chorus but still nothing. Steve had begun to worry.

 

“Then that time I went and said goodbye! Now I'm back and not ashamed to cry... Oo baby, here I am, signed, sealed delivered, I'm yours..” His voice carried on a lonely path through the walls. He took a deep sad breath ready to carry on alone when...

 

“AAAAHHHHHH!” The scream was loud and full of authority. A wide smile broke out on his lips!

 

They both fell into the next part of the song as if it had been planned. “Here I am baby! Oh, you've got the future in your hand. Signed, sealed delivered, I'm yours.”

 

They made it to the end. Loud and proud, their neighbors suffered through it all. The pounding walls, ceiling, and floors didn’t stop them. They were a force to be reckoned with and they didn’t intend to stop without a fight...

 

“Here I am baby, signed, delivered, I’m yours!”

* * *

 

A campy Bucky stood behind Steve and even read the last of the letter Steve held in his shaky hand. “Above are the prohibited time's tenants are allowed to engage in loud bathroom discussions or singing. Tenants will respect the permitted hours in order for everyone to enjoy all the amenities advertised in their leasing agreement. This includes sleep.” At this point Bucky held his stomach laughing so hard he had begun coughing.

 

“I don’t understand.” Bucky snatched the letter from his hand. His eyes scanned the document and checked for authenticity. He moved it out the way when Steve grabbed it again. Bucky waved it around the kitchen.

 

“Screw you, Rogers, I have plans for this.” Steve frowned. Bucky quickly grabbed his keys and wallet and exited seconds later.

 

Alone and distraught when he should have been ready for bed he trudged to the bathroom. He didn’t bother with the lights. He closed the toilet lid and sank into the seat. He head hit the wall. His hope abandoned in silence.

 

Before he could think the words floated from his heart and out his mouth.

 

“It’s sad to think we’re not gonna make it. And it’s gotten to the point where we just can fake it.” His broken mess of a voice echoed throughout the tiny room but not as loud as usual.

 

“For some ungodly reason we just won’t let it down. I guess neither one of us wants to be the first to say goodbye.” Another voice slipped through the plaster just as soft and broken as his own. He wasn’t the only one to receive a letter.

 

“I keep on wondering. What I’m gonna do without ya and I guess you must be wondering that same thing too.” Steve took up the next few lines getting as close as possible to the wall.

 

“So we go on, go on together living a lie. Because neither one of us wants to be the first to say goodbye..” Their voices faded softly. Their month-long tradition was cut short by a strong vote of the righteous many.

 

Steve didn’t know how long he leaned over the commode but he kept his face pressed against the wall. He swore he felt warmth from the other side.

* * *

 

Steve stood in the shower. His gaze dead ahead. A familiar freshly lamented letter, mounted on the wall glared back. A sharpie drew a smiley face with a “cheeky” tongue at the bottom. Asshole...

 

Giggles followed him as he trudged from the bathroom to his bedroom. The supposed anti-morning monster was up and ready for his worm. Steve despised the fucking vulture.

* * *

 

Bucky growled and watched as his friend leave the bathroom again. This had been going on for weeks now. Awkward showers at all times of day when Steve didn’t have to work. Desperate songs belted out to the high heaven. The neighbors above just avoided their home during day hours. Bucky had the option to work from home, so he got an unwanted front row seat to the show.

 

He had seen Steve frantically strip from the front door all the way to the bathroom just to make it to the shower. It was more than enough of Steve’s pasty ass to last Bucky a lifetime. When Steve wasn’t home he would hear frantic running and bad singing from the apartment on the other side. They kept missing either other and Bucky and whoever else was home in the day suffered that cost. If he actually went into work all he had to do was drive to New York every morning, and at this rate, the idea didn’t seem too unreasonable.

 

Weeks of this kind of behavior wasn’t comforting where the utilities were considered. BUZZ! BUZZ! He looked down at his phone and smiled. Steve fell onto the cushion next to him. His shoulders down and his expression pathetically sad. At least he was dressed; a grey Henley and cargo shorts, it wasn’t completely tragic. He glared disgustingly at Steve, enough was enough.

 

“Come on Buddy!” Steve flinched as Bucky slapped his bicep.

 

“What?”

 

“We’re going out! And don’t give me any shit about not going out because I don’t wanna hear it.”

 

“I don’t wanna go out—” Bucky smacked Steve upside the head and Steve glared up at his friend. Bucky shrugged and said,“I told you I didn’t want to hear it.”

 

Bucky looked at the unmoved man. “Listen asswipe it’s Roomie & Beer night and your buying. You owe me for having to work around your new shower regimen. Now get the hell up and put some shoes on.” Steve looked up at Bucky. “I promise we won’t go somewhere with a lot of people. You know I hate crowds.”

 

He played with the idea and nodded seconds later. Bucky jumped up and fetched his necessities. He called over his shoulder, “don’t forget your wallet sucka!”

* * *

 

Steve lagged behind Bucky who he swore was speed walking. Bucky swung around and looked behind him, “hurry up you ass mongrel, we’re late enough as it is!”

 

They had walked from their apartment down 18th Street. There were people everywhere and Bucky swiveled around them with a grace Steve hadn’t known. This sure was a weird spot not to find a crowd of people. Each bar looked swamped.

 

“Uh, Buck?”

 

“Not now Steve!” He paused and turned to find Steve rooted to his spot. “If you don’t get your fucking ass moving I will kick it... I will kick it so fucking hard! Let’s go!”

 

Steve cringed but be he got the message. He felt Bucky grip his arm and guide him through the crowd. In another block or so he felt himself stop. Apparently, they were at their location but Steve didn’t have time to look. Bucky had pulled him down some stairs and into a bar area.

 

He nodded to workers who returned the gesture. He pulled him through a hallway, turn after turn. Steve looked all too confused at the disco lights behind frosted doors that carried the sound of music.

 

Each song different and the singers varied. The wheels in Steve’s mind hadn’t turned fast enough for him to realize where they were. “Buck, where are we?”

 

Bucky looked shocked but answered nonetheless, “Too many showers Rogers, they’ve clouded your fucking brain.”

 

Soon they approached a door but an unhinged version of a hit song didn’t follow, just loud voices. The door couldn’t mask the shouting well enough but Steve made out the tail end of Gloria Gaynor’s I’ll Survive. It was all too ironic because the two voices sounded ready to kill.

 

Bucky twisted the knob before Steve could stop him. From inside the yelling stopped and a female voice said, “finally!”

 

“Sorry, this ass douche decided to take another shower!”

 

“I know what you mean, this one was on his way out. Christ, he’s had three in the last twenty-four hours. I didn’t know how long I was gonna be able to keep him here.” Steve caught the eye of a red-headed beauty who stood on a table and glared at the man just below her.

 

When Steve saw him, he felt something catch in his throat. He swallowed hard as his eyes bathed in the sight. A gorgeous chocolate man tapped his foot. He's dressed business casual his clothes fit him like a glove.

 

Steve frowned when Bucky strolled inside and fetched the remote. His roommate flicked through the songs as if he owned the place. These strangers had to be surprised they had just barged in, even though the barefoot woman leaned over Bucky. She pointed to song options. It wasn’t until he read ‘Muzette’ on the walls. “We’re at a karaoke bar!”

 

Everyone in the room turned and looked at him like he was an alien. “No shit Sherlock.” The voice was calm and even a bit comical. Steve knew that voice from anywhere; it activated his brain, as a dazzling smile met him shortly after.

 

“Mystery Man...”

 

”So you two have never met but our bat grooms are on opposite sides of the wall and whenever you two ass rockets are in the shower the whole building knows it. On behalf of Olympus Gardens Apartment Complex please meet each other without a wall or the common decency of respecting other’s wellbeing.” Bucky’s fucked up grin commands his face as if he’s waited his entire life to say that.

 

“Sam... Sam Wilson.” Steve checked out the extended hand, unable to restrain his own joy.

 

“Steve Rogers, it’s nice to meet you.” He took Sam’s hand into his own and gasped at the connection. A literal jolt passed through their fingers. Their eyes met and the two swayed a bit.

 

A gagging noise filled the room, Sam watched Sam’s beautiful face darken. “Grow up Natasha!”

 

“Get a room Sam, just not the bathroom. I think there’s only one.” Sam and Steve had the nerve to look cross at her words.

 

“Found it!” Bucky pumped both fists in the air. Everyone turned to the screen. Natasha danced over to boys and shoved them both into the couch. Bucky handed her a microphone while he held the other. She jumped to the floor. She and Bucky more her than Bucky shimmied to the music.

 

 **Natasha:** What you want! Baby, I got it! What you need do you know I got it? All I'm askin’ is for a little respect when you get home!

 

 **Bucky:** Just a little bit... hey baby just a little bit when you get home.

 

Steve gaped at Bucky’s melancholy rendition of the classic.

 

 **Natasha:** I ain't gonna do you wrong while you're gone. Ain't gonna do you wrong cause I don't wanna...

 

 **Bucky:** All I'm askin’ is for a little respect when you come home!

 

 **Natasha:** Just a little bit! Baby... just a little bit when you get home...

 

Sam and Steve appeared weirdly uncomfortable. Steve couldn’t look at Sam and had no intention of making eye contact with the singers. Sam had one hand shielding his eyes. The song picked up steam and so did Natasha’s performance. Bucky provided monotone backup and minor hip action.

 

Then it got to a part of the song when Natasha winked at Bucky and then they sang in unison.  
“R-E-S-P-E-C-T! Find out what it means to me! R-E-S-P-E-C-T! Take care, T-C-B! Oh, sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me! A little respect sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me...”

 

At this point both Sam and Steve couldn’t contain their laughter. They’re folded over in a fit of heaves. They barely composed themselves before finishing pose which only reignited the laughter.

 

It took a minute before they gained the wherewithal to applaud the performance. Bucky and Natasha bowed and dropped into seats near them.

 

“How?” Bucky rolled his eyes.

 

“I was getting sick and tired of you mopping around the house and running up my water bill. Not to mention I’ve seen you naked more than I do myself. Nat comes banging on the door demanding that we do something to get you two together because she couldn’t take it either.”

 

Steve felt a smile spread over his face but Sam took the words right out of his mouth, “you guys did this for us.”

 

“Yep, we got the room for the night and you two are paying for the drinks but let’s get through another song.” Natasha handed them the remote. Their hands touched it at the same time and Bucky made a face at the fluffiness of it all.

 

Steve relinquished control to Sam and watched the man more than his song choices. He could have sworn he felt his heart skip a beat after Sam turned to smile. He bit his lip and said, “I think I found the one.”

 

“Me too...” Sam’s face blushed at the omission; their audience heckled their behavior. Neither minded, they just scooted closer.

 

Natasha bumped Bucky’s shoulder, and he lent her an ear. “Do you snore?” He shook his head. “Well me neither, and we’ll probably both need new roommates by the end of the night.”

 

Bucky nodded. “I’m no morning person.”

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to do something light. When I'm feeling bored or between responsibilities at work I'm gonna post a one-shot with a little Motown on the side.


End file.
